History YMMV / ArmoredCore

** ''Formula Front'' is often not looked on very positively entirely because the game takes the strangest option of helping program an A.I. for your Armored Core so ''it'' can do the piloting instead, or for really doing anything all that interesting on its own. Notably, the [=PlayStation 2=] release actually lets you [[AuthorsSavingThrow take manual control]], but it ended up being NoExportForYou, rendering all but the most avid of importer players not exactly wanting to give it a try as a result. For those that do manage to get past all of this, though, it's otherwise a game filled with Arena battles to the brim, which is perfect for those into that part of the series.

* BrokenBase: ''Formula Front'' is often not looked on very positively entirely because the game takes the strangest option of helping program an A.I. for your Armored Core so ''it'' can do the piloting instead, or for really doing anything all that interesting on its own. Notably, the [=PlayStation 2=] release actually lets you [[AuthorsSavingThrow take manual control]], but it ended up being NoExportForYou, rendering all but the most avid of importer players not exactly wanting to give it a try as a result.

** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'' and ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVerdictDay'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks too far removed]] from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused.

* BizarroEpisode: The best way to sum up ''Formula Front'' is that it's what happens when ''Series/BattleBots'' is taken to giant mecha levels. It doesn't tie into the continuity of the rest of the franchise, instead focusing on AI-driven competition battles where teams develop their [=ACs=] to [[ToBeAMaster be the champions.]] It comes off as something of a more clinical and realistic take on the ShonenDemographic, right down to more corrupt teams trying to break the rules with something involving the "Master Data". Nothing this game placed down was ever picked up again for the rest of the series.

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound: ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' opted to indicate with your on-board A.I. every single time you toggle Combat and Scan Modes, never mind other functions like your energy percent. If you do a playthrough of the games or run a lot of multiplayer, those lines are going to be ''ingrained in your brain.''

* AwesomeVideoGameLevels: Each game has their own memorable levels and bosses.
** The first game has "Guard Freight Train". You think that destroying all the planes before the train arrives is going to make the mission easier? The game then throw you into your first introductionary AC vs AC fight against AC Wildcat, complete with an introduction cinematic. It's kinda anti-climatic if you've got yourself the KARASAWA Plasma Rifle from "Destroy Fuel Depot" beforehand and use it to grind him to paste in 3-5 well timed hits, but.
** Any battle with Arms Fort in ''For Answer'' counts for it's sheer destruction factor alone, but the mission "Defeat The Spirit of Motherwill" takes the cake. Once your VOB module exhausted, you're now had to make the rest of the trip by your own legs and try to avoid all projectiles that they throw at you at any time, and flying up there is no easy task, but once you get up close, you can easily slice your way through their ranks and obliterate all the gun emplacements to finish the mission.

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound: ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' opted to indicate with your on-board A.I. every single time you toggle Combat and Scan Modes, never mind other functions like your energy percent. If you do a playthrough of the games or run a lot of multiplayer, those lines are going to be ''ingrained in your brain.'

* MostAnnoyingSound: ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' opted to indicate with your on-board A.I. every single time you toggle Combat and Scan Modes. If you do a playthrough of the games or run a lot of multiplayer, those lines are going to be ''ingrained in your brain.'

** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'' and ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVerdictDay'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them too far removed from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused, hardcore and pseudo-realistic amounts of [[RealIsBrown gritty warfare]] in trying to chase the CultClassic success that was From Software's other one-off mecha game, ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}''. About the one thing agreed upon is that they rather infamously [[FranchiseKiller buried the series for an entire decade]] until the announcement of ''Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon'' in 2022.

* {{Narm}}: In ''Armored Core 2'', the briefer for Emeraude [[TrrrillingRrrs rreally likes trrilling his R's for some rreason]]. It's [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent harrd to tell what kind of accent he's trrying to prresent]] (though going by [[BilingualBonus the name of the company,]] prrobably Frrench), which also makes it harrd to take him serriously sometimes.
%%** Fragile's death scream in ''For Answer'' is full of this.

** When a unit dies, unless it's by overwhelming power they'll spend a couple seconds exploding before they're taken off the playing field. The problem is that your locks will still focus on dying foes like any other, meaning it's entirely possible that overzealously discharging payloads to wipe out the enemies in front of you can not only waste shots pointlessly, but end up giving another enemy the chance to shoot you in the process.

** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'' and ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVerdictDay'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them too far removed from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused, hardcore and pseudo-realistic amounts of gritty apocalyptic warfare in trying to chase the CultClassic success that was From Software's other one-off mecha game, ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}''. About the one thing agreed upon is that they rather infamously [[FranchiseKiller buried the series for an entire decade]] until the announcement of ''Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon'' in 2022.

** ''Another Age'' is a noted one to the original ''Armored Core 2'' as perhaps the most blunt MissionPackSequel in the [=PS2=] era, thanks to not really doing anything to stand on its own two legs that wasn't more ''2'', removing the Arena entirely in favor of AC duels in select missions, and being a gigantic collection of short missions across the globe with no overarching plot. Meanwhile ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNexus Nexus]]'' is almost entirely contested for unbalanced mission design and [[ScrappyMechanic overdoing the Heat mechanics]], and ''Nine Breaker'' is criticized for being little more than a collective of battles and challenges, especially after the CliffHanger ending of ''Nexus'' that was only followed up in ''Last Raven'' -- which itself is criticized by some for being [[ItsHardSoItSucks excessively difficult]] if you're not ''super'' into Armored Core.

** ''Another Age'' is a noted one to the original ''Armored Core 2'' as perhaps the most blunt MissionPackSequel in the [=PS2=] era, thanks to not really doing anything to stand on its own two legs that wasn't more ''2'', removing the Arena and mostly being a gigantic collection of plotless missions across the globe. Meanwhile ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCoreNexus Nexus]]'' is almost entirely contested for unbalanced mission design and [[ScrappyMechanic overdoing the Heat mechanics]], and ''Nine Breaker'' is criticized for being little more than a collective of battles and challenges, especially after the CliffHanger ending of ''Nexus'' that was only followed up in ''Last Raven'' -- which itself is criticized by some for being [[ItsHardSoItSucks excessively difficult]] if you're not ''super'' into Armored Core.

** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'' and ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVerdictDay'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them too far removed from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused, hardcore and pseudo-realistic amounts of gritty apocalyptic warfare in trying to chase the CultClassic success that was From Software's other one-off mecha game, ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}''. About the one thing agreed upon is that the game rather infamously [[FranchiseKiller buried the series for an entire decade]] until the announcement of ''Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon'' in 2022.

** ''Another Age'' is a noted one to the original ''Armored Core 2'' as perhaps the most blunt MissionPackSequel in the [=PS2=] era, thanks to not really doing anything to stand on its own two legs that wasn't more ''2'', removing the Arena and mostly being a gigantic collection of plotless missions across the globe. Meanwhile ''Nexus'' is almost entirely contested for unbalanced mission design and [[ScrappyMechanic overdoing the Heat mechanics]], and ''Nine Breaker'' is criticized for being little more than a collective of battles and challenges, especially after the CliffHanger ending of ''Nexus'' that was only followed up in ''Last Raven'' -- which itself is criticized by some for being [[ItsHardSoItSucks excessively difficult]] if you're not ''super'' into Armored Core.

** ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore4'' and ''Video/GameArmoredCoreForAnswer'' are considered by some fans to be the best in the series, particularly the latter by being an EvenBetterSequel to the prior. But for many fans, rebooting the continuity for the third time, completely changing most of the gameplay to be far faster and more flight-focused, and becoming a more bombastic pair of games overall didn't fly well with the fans that preferred the more down-to-earth weightiness of the older games. Others see it as effectively a brief, fleeting Golden Age of the series at its apex, even giving the [=PS2=] era a real run for its money.

** ''4'' and ''For Answer'' are considered by some fans to be the best in the series, particularly the latter by being an EvenBetterSequel to the prior. But for many fans, rebooting the continuity for the third time, completely changing most of the gameplay to be far faster and more flight-focused, and becoming a more bombastic pair of games overall didn't fly well with the fans that preferred the more down-to-earth weightiness of the older games.
** ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them too far removed from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused, hardcore and pseudo-realistic amounts of gritty apocalyptic warfare in trying to chase the CultClassic success that was From Software's other one-off mecha game, ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}''.

** ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' has two camps: you either were there with the games and loved them, or you considered them too far removed from even the ''4'' generation and too multiplayer-focused in trying to chase the CultClassic success that was From Software's other one-off mecha game, ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}''.

** ''Another Age'' is a noted one to the original ''Armored Core 2'' as perhaps the most blunt MissionPackSequel in the [=PS2=] era, thanks to not really doing anything on its own to stand on its own two legs, removing the Arena and mostly being a gigantic collection of plotless missions across the globe. Meanwhile ''Nexus'' is almost entirely contested for unbalanced mission design and [[ScrappyMechanic overdoing the Heat mechanics]], and ''Nine Breaker'' is criticized for being little more than a collective of battles and challenges, especially after the CliffHanger ending of ''Nexus'' that was only followed up in ''Last Raven'' -- which itself is criticized by some for being [[ItsHardSoItSucks excessively difficult]] if you're not ''super'' into Armored Core.

** ''Another Age'' is a noted one to the original ''Armored Core 2'' as perhaps the most blunt MissionPackSequel in the [=PS2=] era, thanks to not really doing anything on its own to stand on its own two legs, removing the Arena and mostly being a gigantic collection of plotless missions across the globe. Meanwhile ''Nexus'' is almost entirely contested for unbalanced mission design and [[ScrappyMechanic overdoing the Heat mechanics]], and ''Nine Breaker'' is criticized for being little more than a collective of battles and challenges, especially after the CliffHanger ending of ''Nexus'' that was only followed up in ''Last Raven''.

* ContestedSequel: In a weird case, there is no real "ultimate" or "definitive" game in the franchise. While the first game all the way to ''Last Raven'' used the same general core gameplay, every other installment shifted the balance between story or the Arena, new gameplay elements or basic additions and removals and so forth, so fans would debate which game was the best of the bunch. Then ''4'' and ''For Answer'' happened with the first significant gameplay reboot, and ''V'' and ''Verdict Day'' rebooted everything again. Now fans eternally contest almost every game in the series besides a handful of gems.

* SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced: After more than nine years since the release of ''Armored Core: Verdict Day'' in September 2013, the announcement of ''VI: Fires of Rubicon'' was met with massive excitement, with many rejoicing that [=FromSoftware=] was revisiting the series after the company's massive worldwide success with the SoulsLikeRPG genre. Many are excited to see how the experience and design philosophies of the company post-''Dark Souls'' shapes up the game.